The invention relates to a method for measuring at least one preloading force that acts between a shaft and a rolling-element bearing of a bearing assembly mounted on the shaft. The invention also relates to a bearing assembly for performing this method.
It is generally known to provide force measurement devices for operating a rolling-element bearing mounted on a shaft, in order to measure the forces acting on the rolling-element bearing.
For example, the laid-open patent application DE 4218949 A1, which forms the closest prior art, describes a force measurement bearing with a force measurement device. The force measurement device is a sensor element constructed as a force measurement film with a profile thickness between 0.02 and 0.7 millimeters. It can be inserted into arbitrarily constructed recesses on rolling-element bearings or in intermediate elements connected to rolling-element bearings or surrounding the entire bearing. The force measurement film can be used for detecting a static and also a dynamic force measurement in the axial and radial direction.